Canadair CF-5

The Canadair CF-5, officially the CF-116 Freedom Fighter, is the Canadian licence-built version of the Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter, a light, supersonic, twin-engine daylight air superiority fighter built mainly for the Canadian Forces and, as the NF-5, for the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The Royal Canadian Air Force took it after the Defence Minister reshaped the requirement into an affordable conventional attack aircraft, a choice that was unpopular within the RCAF. Canadair added a two-position nose landing gear that cut takeoff distance by almost 20 percent, a midair refuelling probe, Orenda-built General Electric J85-15 engines and a better navigation system, and the nose could be swapped for a four-camera reconnaissance set. The first aircraft was rolled out at Cartierville on 6 February 1968 and the first Dutch NF-5 on 5 March 1969, with Fokker building most of the centre fuselages. Canadair built 240 in all, which Canadian squadrons used as attack, reconnaissance and trainer aircraft until the Canadian Forces retired it in 1995, and other countries still fly it.